Thursday, January 29, 2015

In
honor of the Super Bowl we present some life lessons to be gleaned from the
game of football. [The first three are based on the lecture of Dr. Yitzy
Schechter for the YU Halftime show 2013 - Super Bowl XLVII]

1. No game
requires as much of a team effort as football. The quarterback needs the
linesman to give him space so that he can find the wide receiver. Every player
has his role to play, and without each role being fulfilled the team cannot
hope for victory.

In our
personal and familial lives as well as being members of Klal Yisroel, each of
us has our unique role that we must play. Everyone is invaluable and no one is
dispensable.

2. The only
thing that matters is the line of scrimmage – where the play is happening right
now!

Rav Dessler
explains that a person’s nekudas habechira, the point where one is
challenged and has the prerogative how to exercise his free will, is different
for every person. What is a struggle for one person may not be a struggle for
another. More significantly, every individual’s own nekudas hebechira is
constantly changing. What may have been a tremendous challenge for a person one
day may no longer be a challenge for him the next day. Our spiritual line of
scrimmage is ever-changing and we must move with it to embrace the challenge
wherever it appears.

3. You’re
never too far away from a first down! You may be way downfield with the odds
stacked heavily against you, even as the clock is winding down. But you’re sole
focus needs to be on moving the ball another ten yards. The objective is to get
a first down, and then another first down, and then another. We can’t try to
grab too much at once.

4. Even
when a person slips up and has ‘lost his footage’, he should never throw in the
towel. As long as the clock is still ticking there is still hope.

On
February 3, 2008, with less than two minutes to play in Super Bowl XLII, the
underdog New York Giants were trailing the
heavily favored, undefeated New England
Patriots, 14-10. On third and 5 at the Giants 44 yard line, Giant’s quarterback
Eli Manning, took the snap, and was immediately under pressure. He was grabbed
by the shoulder and from his back and was almost thrown down for a sack.
Somehow he managed to stay on his feet and duck under the arms of another
defender, before he threw the ball downfield. Immediately after launching the
ball Manning was thrown down. Had Manning been sacked the Giants would have
faced fourth and 8, and would have been forced to convert to keep any chance of
winning alive.

32 yards
downfield David Tyree, who seldom was used as a receiver, caught Manning’s
incredible throw with both hands. Then it was swiped away by a defender and
Tyree held the ball against his helmet for the completion which gave the Giants
a first down, and a chance to score the game winning touchdown, that shocked
the patriots.

Even in a
person’s worst moments when he feels utterly beaten, as long as he doesn’t
surrender, he is still in the game and has a chance to come back!